


Ghost In The Machine

by 30xf



Series: 201 Days Of X Files [7]
Category: The X-Files
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-04
Updated: 2015-09-04
Packaged: 2018-04-19 00:48:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,141
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4726520
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/30xf/pseuds/30xf





	Ghost In The Machine

"So he's just gone?" Margaret Scully asked as she set out coffee mugs and spoons.

"That is generally what happens when you break up with someone, yes," Dana Scully clarified, retrieving milk from the fridge and sugar from the cupboard. 

Mrs. Scully shook her head, "I just don't understand why you didn't tell us sooner."

"She's a grown up, Maggie," Bill Scully Sr. chimed in, taking a seat at the head of the kitchen table, now cleared of all the dinner dishes. "She has a life of her own."

There was barely perceptible resentment in his tone. Dana had known finally telling her parents about her break up with Ethan over dinner wouldn't be the worst thing she'd ever done, but it would be added to the list of things her father was disappointed in her for. Ever since she'd told him she was leaving medicine for the FBI she'd felt less and less in his favour.

"I don't care how grown up she is," Mrs. Scully began, pouring coffee for first her husband, then her daughter, and finally herself. "She'll always be my baby girl," she finished, kissing Dana on the temple as she went to put the coffee pot back on the counter.

Dana blushed under her mother's attention, but couldn't meet her father's eye as she sat and poured milk in her coffee. "Milk, mom?" she asked, already holding the pitcher over her mother's mug. 

"Yes please, honey. Thank you," Mrs. Scully replied, placing a tray of cookies in the middle of the table and sitting down. 

"Did you make those?" Dana asked, nodding towards the cookies as she took a careful sip of her coffee.

"Mmm-hmm, just this morning," Mrs. Scully answered proudly.

Dana had never been able to resist her mother's sugar cookies, but when she reached out to take one, she saw her father noticing the scrapes on her knuckles. She had kept them well hidden so far. The marks on her chin and forehead had been easy enough to cover with make-up, but gloves weren't really appropriate for a casual dinner with your parents. She had even held her fork with her left hand to keep her scratched up right knuckles hidden, but the cookies gave her away in the end. 

"What happened there?" Captain Scully asked, raising his eyebrows in the general direction of her hand as he took a gulp of his steaming hot black coffee.

Mrs. Scully took Dana's hand and examined her knuckles carefully. She released her after a moment, satisfied they were only minor scrapes. Dana picked up a cookie and took a bite, no longer having to hide her hand. For what it was worth, Mrs. Scully had noticed the injuries almost immediately. She'd also noticed the ones on her daughter's face that were almost hidden with make-up, but she knew better than to ask. If curiosity had gotten the better of her, she would have waited until her husband was out of the room.

"It's a long story," Dana sighed, chewing slowly. She considered leaving it at that, but her father was giving her a look that meant he expected an answer. It was the same one he had used on his children their whole lives when he knew they had been up to no good. "The last case we were on, there were some sparks flying at one point, and then I had to crawl through an air duct that kicked in while I was still in it. I got a little bruised and banged up, but it wasn't too bad." She was careful not to lie, but she wasn't above downplaying the situation.

"And where was that partner of yours while this was going on?" Captain Scully asked.

"Being held at gunpoint," Dana answered firmly, finally looking her father in the eye. For one of only a few times in her life, Dana saw her father with nothing to say.

Mrs. Scully cleared her throat awkwardly. "How is your partner, honey? His name is Fox?"

"He's good," Dana answered, looking away from her father and giving her mother a smile. "We work really well together."

"That's good to hear," Mrs. Scully answered, taking a cookie.

"I'm actually heading over to his place after I leave here to see him," Dana added.

Captain Scully finished his coffee, asking, "Won't you see him in the morning at work?"

Dana took another cookie, "Yeah, but I want to check on him." She got up from the table then and dumped what was left of her coffee down the sink and placed her mug in the dishwasher before sitting back down. 

"Is he okay?" Mrs. Scully asked.

"Mmm-hmm, but I just want to check on him," Dana nodded. "It's just that...a friend of his--that he used to work with--died recently and I just want to make sure he's...okay." She spared them the part where Agent Lamana had most likely been killed by a machine; possibly the very same machine that had activated the duct she was in in an attempt   
to kill her too.

"Well, I hope he's alright," her father commented honestly. As much as he disliked his daughter's chosen profession, he respected her, and was proud of the person she had grown into. 

"I'm sure he is," Dana smiled, grateful for the change in her father's tone.

Mrs. Scully quickly retrieved a plastic container from the cupboard and filled it with sugar cookies. "Here, honey, take him some cookies," she instructed, placing the container in front of her daughter.

"Thanks mom."

"You giving away all my cookies?" Captain Scully asked his wife, giving her a barely perceptible wink.

Maggie Scully rolled her eyes, sliding the plate of cookies on the table closer to her daughter. "More cookies is the last thing you need," she replied, giving him a loving smile. 

Dana took a couple of cookies and picked up the container as she stood. Her father leaned back in his chair, placing his hands on the slightly rounded belly he had maintained for as long as Dana could remember. "She's trying to starve me, Starbuck," he smiled. The use of his pet name for her signaled a temporary end to their disagreement over her choice of career.

"I won't let it happen, daddy," she replied, bending to kiss his forehead as she passed him on her way to the front door. 

Mrs. Scully didn't miss the cookie her daughter slipped into his hand. "Dana Katherine Scully, don't encourage him!" she scolded, unable to hold back a grin at the mischievous streak her baby girl had always held onto.

"Last time, I promise," Dana called from the front hallway, still chewing her own mouthful of cookie. 

Mrs. Scully rolled her eyes and took her husband's hand as they went to see their daughter out.


End file.
